A Study Of Cohesion Of Lyrics In The Sound Of Music

This dissertation applies cohesion theory in Systemic Functional Grammar to analyze the cohesive devices used in the lyrics of the eleven songs in the musical film The Sound of Music, in an attempt to find out how cohesive devices are used to contribute to each song, and ultimately all the songs in the film to make the story a coherent whole.We analyze prominent cohesive devices used in the lyrics of each song respectively and discuss the effects they bring to the song. After an overview of all the cohesive devices used in the lyrics of all the songs in this film, we sum up seven frequently used ones. They are parallelism, repetition, personal reference, collocation, synonymy/antonymy, cohesive chains and phonetic modes.We observe the unique contributions they make to the cohesion and coherence of the lyrics of songs and the story itself. Generally speaking, parallelism and repetition serve mainly to strengthen and reinforce emotions or ideas in the lyrics. Personal references usually establish various personal relationships among the characters. Lexical collocations help build up a specific context in the song, while synonyms and antonyms can reveal the singer's delicate attitudes or emotions. Cohesive chains serve to organize and unite ideas or messages in the lyrics. Phonetic modes are effective in making songs musical and melodious.According to our analysis, songs in this musical film mainly serve to depict the characters, promote the plot and build up certain atmosphere in this musical film. And these functions are achieved with the aid of the cohesive devices they use in the lyrics. Together, they contribute a large part to the success and popularity of the songs in this famous musical film.